Roll-changing rack



Jan. 26 1926.

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Jan. -26 1926.

P. A.' SCHULZ ROLL CHANGING RACK Filed Nov. 17, 1921- 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan. A26 1926. 1,571,026

P, A. scHULz ROLL CHANGING RACK Filed Nov. 1'7, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 R Q Ihre/:for

Jan, 26 1926.

P. A. SCHULZ ROLL CHANGING RACK Filed Nov. 17, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Jan. 26, 1926.

ulsuranv STATES gPATENT OFFICE.

PAUL AUGUST SCHULZ, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BETIILEHEM STEEL COMPANY, OF BETHLEI-IEM, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

ROLL-CHANGING RACK.

Application led November 17, l1921. i Serial No. 515,863.

sTo all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PAUL AUGUST SCHULZ,

a citizenof the United States, and residing' at Bethlehem, Northampton County, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roll-Changing Racks, of which the following is a specilication.

The present invention relates to rolling mills and more particularly to a process and apparatus forchanging the rolls thereof.

Heretofore, it has not been possible to op erate rolling mills continuouslyl because they must be shut down at intervals to change the rolls. Obviously, the production from the mill is reduced in proportion to the time that the mill is idle, and as several million dollars are invested in such mills, the overhead expense is a very heavy item and goes on even when the mill is idle.

It is the principal object of the present .invention to provide a` method and process whereby the time lost may be greatly de creased. In mills of the universal type, heretofore it has taken about eight hours out of every forty-eight to change the rolls. With the present invention, the mill need be idle only about three hours out of the forty-eight for this purpose. -In other words, the production from the mill may be increased about 121/2%. p

According to the present invention, the above mentioned desirable result is obtained by providing a reserve mill which may be substituted for the active mill. The reserve mill is assembled with the desired rolls for the next job while theactive mill is in operation and is thereafter interchanged with the active mill. Thus the only time lost is that required to disconnect the active mill rfiln its drive and connect up the reserve m1 Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from the description taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a complete rolling mill of the universal type;

Figure 2 is a pla-n view of the rack for assembling and adjusting the reserve mills;

Figure 3 is an elevation. of a main mill of a universal mill with part of the driving mechanism therefor;`

vbeing shown in position thereon; rand Figure 8 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on the line 8-8 of Figure 7 showing the mechanism for retractin and assembling the side housings of the mills.

, lReferring to Figure 1, the present inven- 'tion has been shown in connection with a mill of the .universal type, although it is not limited to this kind of mill. In said ligure, the reference character A indicates a blooming mill connected by a conveyor B to the mainv mill C of a universal mill.

In the apparatus shown in igure 1, there are two stands and C is the main mill of the first stand and D the supplemental mill. This latter mill is connected by a conveyor E to the supplemental mill F of the second stand, the main mill thereof being indicated at G. The rolled shapes discharged from this latter mill are carried away by the conveyor H. l

As is wellknown, the main mill of a universal mill comprises horizontal rolls which roll the web and` inner surfaces of the flanges of the shapes and vertical rolls which roll the outer surfaces of 'the flanges. The edges of the flanges are rolled in a. supplemental mill.

As shown in Figure 3, the horizontal rolls of the main mill are driven from a shaft 10 connected to said :rolls through gearing in the casing 11 and the shaft 12 and 13. Disposed on top of the casing 11 are two motors 14 and 15. The motor l14 is controlled in any suitable manner and con? a shaft 16 connected to the shaft 17 of the mill by a short shaft 18 having disconnectable universal joints 19 and 20 at its ends. In a similar manner motor operates a shaft 21 connecting to the shaft 22 of the mill by a short shaft 23 having universal joints 24 and 25 at its ends. The shafts 17 and 22 are splined so that the housings 26 of the mill may be moved to the left, as viewed in figure 3, for the purpose of changing the rolls.

The shaft 17 is .adapted to actuate the screw down mechanism in any suitable manner. As shown in figure 4, said shaft carries a pair of worms 27 meshing with worm wheels 28 within housings 29. The worm wheels 28 are connected with vertical screw shafts 30 in any suitable manner so that the latter are rotated in unison with the worm wheels but may have vertical movement. The lower ends of the screw shafts 30 bear on the bearings 31 supporting the upper horizontal rolls.

The shaft 22 has a pair of bevel gears 32 meshing with bevel gears 33 carried on horizontal shafts 34. At their opposite ends, these shafts 34 have similar bevel gears 35. The gears 33 and 35 mesh with bevel gears 36 carried on vertical shafts 37. These latter shafts arel connected to adjust the vertical rolls and the guide plates in any suitable manner. As the particular means for adjusting these parts form no part of the present invention, no further description of the same is necessary.

The side housings 26`and 38Y of the mill are supported on rails or sole plates 39 and secured therto in any suitable manner. Asv

shown, bolts 40 are employed for this purpose.

It will be observed that the mill may be removed bodily from its position after' disconnecting the drive for the horizontal rolls, the universal joints 20 and 25, and the bolts 40.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to retract the side housing 26 a sufficient distance so that the rolls may be removed and other rolls substituted. Not only does it take considerable time to remove the original rolls and substitute others, but after the new rolls have been assembled even a greater amount of time is required to properly adjust the same.

According to the present invention, a stand is provided so that a reserve mill may be assembled with the desired rolls in proper adjustment. Then the active mill, after being disconnected from its drive in the manner mentioned above, is bodily removed either by an overhead crane or other suitable means and the reserve mill carried by a crane or other suitable means to take the place of the active mill. Obviously, this reserve mill may be connected up to the roll drive very quickly.

' the shaft 65.

In the form of the invention shown, the reserve rack includes rails or sole plates to support two separate mills, means to retract the side housings thereof, and means to adA just the rolls of the mills.

As shown in figures 7 and 8, the reserve mills .are slidably supported on the sole plates 41. For the purpose of retracting the side housings of the mills, cross heads 42 are provided having ears 43 formed with aligned holes. The side housings near their bases are provided with perforated cars 44 and pins 45 are inserted in the holes in the ears 43 and 44 so that the cross heads are connected to the housings. For the purpose of retracting the cross heads and moving the side housings of the mills therewith, cach of the housings has a pair of screw shafts 47 threaded through the opposite ends thereof. These shafts are driven by worms and worm wheels 48 and 49 from a shaft 50. This shaft in turn is driven from a motor 51 through the gearing 52 and shaft 53. The latter shaft is connected to shaft 50 by a clutch 54 thrown into and out of engagement by the lever 55. It will be noted that there are two of the clutches 54 .so that the cross heads 42 can be selectively operated.

After the reserve mills have been assembled with the proper rolls therein, it is necessary to adjust the rolls and guide plates. The apparatus of the present invention includes means for accomplishing this result. This means comprises mechanism adapted to be connected to the overhead shafts 17 and 22. As shown in figure 6, the free ends of said shafts 17 and 22 may be connected by couplings 56 to short shafts 57 and 58 respectively. Looselyanounted on the shafts are the intermeshing gears 59 and 60 adapted to be rotatively connected to their respective shafts by the manually operable clutches` 61 and 62, these clutches being controlled by the downwardly eX- tending levers 63. For the purpose of rotating the gear 59, a bevel gear 63 is secured thereto and meshes with a bevel gear 64 on This latter shaft is driven from the shaft 53 by means of bevel gears 66, 67, vertical shaft 68 and bevel gears 69 `and 70. The parts 57 to 65 inclusive are mounted in suitable brackets 71 and 72 supported on a platform 73.

After the reserve mills have been assembled and the overhead shafts thereof connected by means of the couplings 56, any of the shafts 17 or 22 or all of them may be driven from the motor 51, the operation of these shafts being controlled by the clutches 61 and 6 2. In this manner, the rolls and plate guides may be properly adjusted by power driven mechanism.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be 'secured by Letters Patent is:

l. Apparatus of the character described including in combination, means tofsuppo-rt a rolling mill, a motor, and means operated by said motor to move one housing of said mill to and from the other housing and also to actuate the screw down mechanism of the mill.

2. Apparatus of the character described including in combination, means to support a rolling mill, a cross-head, means carried by the cross-head for attachment laterally of a mill housing, and means to move 'said cross-head in a direction substantially parallel with the axes of the horizontal rolls of the mill, said cross head adapted to be secured to a. housing of a mill on said support whereby the said housing may be withdrawn from the mill or returned thereto.

3. Apparatus of the character described including in combination,l means to support a rolling mill, a cross-head; and means to ,move said cross-headin a direction substan- Ytially parallel with the axes of t-he hori- Zonta-ll rolls of the mill, said cross-head adapted to be secured to a housing of a mill on said support whereby the 'said housing may be withdrawn from the mill or returned thereto, and means adapted to be connected to said mill to actuate the screw down mechanism thereof.

4. vApparatus of the character described including in combination, means to support a mill constructed for the lateral movement I of one of its housings, power actuated means adapted to be secured to said housing to move it toward or away from the mill, and means operable from the power actuated means to actuate the 'screw down .mechanism.

In apparatus for changing rolls in rolling mills having roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combination of a frame, sole plates adapted to support roll-supporting housings, rotary driving means carried by the frame, an element movable lengthwise of the sole plates, meansfor attaching said elemei t to a housing, and power-transmitting mea between the driving means and the element for moving the latter.

In apparatus for changing rolls in'rolling mills having roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combination of a frame, sole plates adapted to 'support roll-supporting housings, a member movable lengthwise with respect to the sole plates, means for attaching said member to a. housing, means carried by the frame for adjusting thc-rolls carried bythe housings, a source of power, and disconnectible driving means between theso'urce of power andl said member and between the source of power and said adjusting means.

7. In apparatus for hanging rolls in rolling mills having roll adjusting meansand roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combina.- tion of sole plates for supporting the housings, -a member movable lengthwise of the sole plates, means for attaching said member to a. housing, a rotary shaft arranged above the sole plates and adapted to be connected to roll adjusting means, a drive shaft, and disconnectible power transmitting means between the drive shaft and said member and between the drive shaft and said rotary shaft.

8. In apparatus for changing rolls in rolling mills having roll adjusting means and roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combination of sole plates for supporting thehousings,

.a member movable lengthwise of the, sole plates, means for attaching the member to a housing, supporting structure arranged above one end of the sole plates, and rotatable means carried by said supporting structure and adapted for connection to the means for adjusting the rolls.

9. In apparatus for changing rolls in rolling mills having roll adjusting means and roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of 'the horizontal rolls, the combination of parallel guides adapted to support the, housings, a member movable lengthwise of' the guides, means for attaching the member to a housing, supporting structure extending above the guides .at one end thereof, rotary driving means carried. by the supporting structure and adapted for connection to the adjusting means for the rolls, a source of power, and disconnectible driving means between the source of power and said member and between the source of power and said rot-ary driving means.

10. In apparatus for changing rolls in rolling mills having roll and guide adjusting means and roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the

combination of sole plates for supporting the j,

housings, a member movable lengthwise of the soleplates, means for attaching the member to a housing, supporting structure eX- tending above the sole plates at one end thereof, two rotary shafts carried by the supporting structure and adapted for connection respectively to the means for adjusting the horizontal rolls and to the means for adjusting the vertical rolls and guide means of the mill, a source of power, and disconnectible driving means between the source of power and said member and between the source of power and each of said shafts.

l1. In apparatus for changing rolls inv rolling mills having roll adjusting means and roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combination of parallel sole plates for supporting a pair of housings, a cross-head,

means for connecting the cross-head to a housing, screw means for moving the crosshead lengthwise with respect to the sole plates, supporting structure arranged above the sole plates at one end thereof, parallel shafts carried by the supporting structure and adapted for connection respectively to the horizontal and vertical roll adjusting means, a pair of meshing gears, clutches for connecting the respective gears to the shafts, a source of power, power transmitting means between the source of power and one of said gears, and power transmitting means between said source of power and said screw means and including clutch mechanism.

12. In apparatus for changing rolls in rolling mills having roll adjusting means and roll-supporting housings separable lengthwise of the horizontal rolls, the combination of sole plates Jfor supporting mill housings, a cross-head movable lengthwise with respect to a housing, a plurality of crews arranged parallel to the sole plates and `engaging the cross-head, a drive shaft, gearing between thedrive shaft and each of said screws, supporting structure arranged above one end of the sole plates, a pair of drive shafts carried by the supporting structure and adapted for connection to the adjusting means for ythe horizontal and vertical rolls of the mill, a train of gearing, clutches between elements of said train and each of the said shafts of saidpair of shafts, a source of power, power transmitting means between the source of power and said gear train, and clutch means between the power transmitting means and the drive shaft for said screws.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my signature.

PAUL AUGUST SCHULZ. 

